Laundering machine



1,623,077 Apr]! 1927' w. w. TRINKS LAUNDERING MACHI NE Filed March 29. 1924 1 2 Shets-Sheet 1 ahvehtoz 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 V W. TRINKS LAUNDERING MACHINE Fi'le'l March 29. 1924 m J \k m I- m NM A///// a N w M V an v i @A 11 V g Q ad EH 85 HQ April 1927.

V v w Patented Apr. 5, 1927.

U. NIT ED STAT E 8* PATENT oFFi-cE.

WILLIAM W. TRINKS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CQNNECTIGUI,, ASSIGNOR TQ PULL-CLEAN MANUFACTURING.CORPORATION, 0F BRIDGEPORT,,GONNEG'IIICUT, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

LAUNDEBILTG MACHINE.

Application filed March 29, 1924. Serial No. 702,985.

This invention relates to laundering machines and comprises certain improvements upon themachine made the subject of pend ing application Serial No. 516,806, filed November 21 1921.

The machine oft'he aforesaid application comprises a washing tank having rotary scrubbing brushes mounted therein, a bar for detachable connection with a towel, and a pair of; endless carrier belts having means for engaging the opposite ends of said bar and being operative in a; path to carry the bar and connected towel through the washing tankbetween the scrubbing brushes therein. The connection between these car rier belts and" the bar in said prior machine is a loose one, effected by inwardly projecting'arms'on the carrier belts loosely engaging the ends of thebar within open notches therein, and it has been found in practice that when thebar is being moved' by the carrierbelts between the rotary scrubbing brushes in the tank it sometimes happens 7 that the bar becomes disengaged from the carrier belts by the action of certain of the brushes which are rotated in thedirection of movement of the bar. To-prevent such disengagement of the bar'f'rom the carrier belts has been one of the objects of my present invention, and I accomplish this in a preferred form of the invention by locating a plurality of wires within the tank in position to engage the bar during its passage therethrough and yieldi'ngly hold or maintain it in operative connection with the carriers.

A further feature of my present invention relates to a means for maintaining the towel, and. particularly the rear, loose end thereof, in a laterally spread and smooth condition in its passage between the brushes in the; tank. It was found in practice that the rear loose end of the towel, being unsupported in its passage between the successive pairs of brushes, would drop downward at such points and have a tendency to wrinkle and fold laterally on itself, thus preventing all parts thereof being directly acted upon by the brushes. To avoid this tendency to wrinkle and assure the towel being maintained in a spread condition at its rear end has therefore been a furtherobject of the invention, which object I attain by prowhich latter the towel is unwound when drawn. through the a tank;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through thev tank and 3 associated,- parts, with the towel support-ing-reelin elevation.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail showing-the detachable connectionibetween the towel; bar and carrier belts.

Fig. l is an. inner end view of, oneof the bar engaging arms on the carrierbelts;

Similar reference characters indicate like parts-in the several figures of the drawings;

The washing tank, indicated; at. 1,, may be of any usual or suit-ableconstruttion, and; as here shown is. supported in a. raised position fromthe flooron legs 2.

Mounted within: this tank; are two .SGtSOf rotary scrubbing brushes the brushes of one set, indicated at 4:, being arranged. immediately above those of the other; set-,lin,- dicated at 5,. whereby the brushes; of' each set will'be-directly opposed forcooperation in acting upon. the opposite sides of a towel being drawn or fed theitebetween.

Each of these brushes is mounted on a shaft. 6 which is j'ournall'ed; at its opposite ends in suitable journali boxes slidably mounted in vertical guides.88 on the opposite inner walls of the tankLthe brushes of each set being vertically adjustable with respect tjothose of the other for the-purpose of taking up wear of the brushes and keep,- ing them. in: proper'workingi relation.

The two sets of brushes are adapted; to be operated; in a: manner whereby; their adjacent opposed faces will move on rotate in opposite directions relatively toeach other, this movement of the same obviously result? ing in a mereetficient .scrubbing' action on the interposed towel. Any suitable means may be employed for operating the brushes in the manner stated, one desirable means being that disclosed in my aforesaid application, Serial No. 516,806. As here shown, like in my aforesaid application, the brushes in both the washing and rinsing tanks are operated by like connections from a main drive shaft 10 journalled in brackets 11 on one side of the tank 1. These connections comprise a shaft 12 which is journalled in suitable bearings on the opposite upper edges ,of the tank and operated from the drive shaft 10 through bevel gears 14. Fixed to this shaft 12 is a pinion 40 which meshes with and drives a large spur gear 41 mounted on a shaft 49. This gear 41 in turn meshes with and drives two pinions 42 and 43, the pinion 42 being in driving connection with the upper set of brushes and the pinion 43 being in driving connection with the lower set of brushes.

The pinion 42, as here shown, is fixed on the shaft 6 of the end brush of the upper set, and this shaft is in operative driving connection with the several other shafts of the same set through sprockets and connecting chains, 44 and 45 respectively, as

clearly shown in Fig. 1, while the pinion 43 is fixed to ashaft 46 journalled in suitable bearings on the inner walls of the tank, which shaft adjacent its opposite or rear end is in operative driving connection with the several shafts of the lower set of brushes through sprockets and connecting chains, 47 and 48 respectively, also as clearly shown in Fig. 1. It will thus be clear that the two sets of brushes, driven from the gear 41 through the" connections described, will be caused to rotate with their adjacent opposed faces moving in opposite directions relatively to each other for the purpose referred to.

The towels to be laundered are preferably in roll form, the same being wound about a hollow tube or mandrel. This permits of the towels being conveniently mounted for rotation on a suitable support in front of the tank 1 and being gradually unwound therefrom as their front or leading ends are advanced through the machine. Preferably I provide a reel 50 for carrying a plurality of towels, which is mounted on a shaft 51. journalled at its opposite ends in standards 5252 secured in stationary position on the floor or other support. The reel is here shown as provided with a plurality of spindles 800 which are adapted to be passed through the tubes on which the towels are wound for the purpose of rotatably mounting the towels on the reel.

From the reel 50, the free end of a towel supported thereon is led to a position at the upper front end of the tank to be engaged by the towel feeding means, which latter comprises a pair of endless carrier belts 5353, here shown in the form of sprocket chains, which are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of the towel and mounted on a series of suitably supported sprocket wheels, some of which serve as guides and others of which serve drive wheels, these latter being actuated through suitable gearing from the main drive shaft 10 as in the aforesaid application. The general path of these carrier belts is indicated by a broken line in Fig. 2, wherein they are shown as entering downwardly into the tank at its front end, thence moving in a horizontal path in a plane between the upper and lower sets of lnushes to the rear end of the tank, and from thence passing upwardly and out of the tank.

As a means for effecting connection of the towel t with the carrier belts to be drawn by the latter through the machine, the towel is provided at its frontend with a loop 54 through which is passed a flat bar 55 with its ends projecting slightly beyond the opposite edges of the towel for connection with the carrier belts, these latter being provided at predetermined points with inwardly projecting forked arms 56 having pins 57 for engaging the projecting ends of the towel bar within notches 58 therein (see Figs. 3 and 4).

hen the end of a towel is thus connected with the continuously moving carrier belts at the upper front end of the tank, it is drawn by them over the guide rolls 59 and 60 to a point above the washing chamber, thence downwardly into the chamber and beneath a guide roll 61, from which latter it is advanced between the opposed upper and lower sets of rotating brushes to a point adjacent the rear end of the chamber, where it is carried about a guide roll. 62 and tron. thence upwardly and about a guide roll 63 to a wringer.

The several pairs of feed-chain driving sprocket wheels which are mounted on the washing tank are indicated at 'i)TU and 7l-71, the wheels 7U70 being mounted, on a shaft '54 which is journallcd on the upper edge of the tank and driven from the shaft 10 through the bevel gearing T5, and the wheels 71-71 being mounted on the shaft 12 at the rear upper end of the washing tank which is driven from the shaft 10 througl'i the bevel gearing 1.4. The several other sprocket wheels mounted on the tank and on the supporting legs thereof, im'licatcd at 78, about which the chains pass, are merely guides ,which cooperate with the driving sprockets for directing the movement of the chains in their proper paths.

As hereinbeforc mentioned, when the towel bar 55 is being drawn between the upper and lower sets of scrubbing brushes, the upper set of brushes, rotating in the dilit) rection of movement ofithebar, has a tendenc-y to disengage the latter itrom the-arms 56 on thecarrier belts, in whicheventthere is of coursem liability of breakage or other damage to the parts. To avoid'tliis I'have stretched a plurality of parallel wires 15 between the upper and lower sets-otbrushes in position to yieldingly engage the upper side oiithe'bar '55 and produce a braking ac tion thereon suflicientto maintain it in its operative engagement with the carrierbelt arms 56 when being advanced between the brushes. These wires may be supported in any suitable or desired way. As shown, they are stretched over positioning cross "bars '16, 16, fixed within the tank adjacent the front and rear ends of the series of brushes, and at their opposlte ends are anchored to a second pair oi'- croLsbars 17, 17, fixed within the tank adjacent its 'top. In orderthatthe tension of these wires may be properly adjusted the wires are provided wlth screw-adjusted tightening devices 18 at one end thereof as shown.

During thepassage of a towe'lbetween the brushes, the rear 'looseiend o't the same, being unsupported between the successive pairs of brushes, drops down between the latter. end, as hereinbeiore stated, has atendencyto wrinkle and told laterally on itself. To avoid this I have located a pair of small suitably journalled rolls 20, 20,-between each pair ofbrushes, which are arranged to engage the .towel from the lower and :upper sides thereof, the lower roll servmgto support the towel and the upper roll cooperatting therewith servingto maintain the interpored towel in its normal laterally spread condition. WVith this arrangement of parts, it has been found that towels will be maintained in a smooth and unwrinkled condition throughout their length during their passage through the washing tank.

'Thebar engaging wires 15 extend'between the upper and lower sets of rolls 20, by which they are maintained in their normal straight positioirand against vertical deflection. In order that the rolls of the upper and lower setsmay be in close relatioirto each othernotwithstanding the interposition of the wires '15 therbetween-for cooperation in acting upon the interposed towels. the rolls of the upper set are each formed with a series of circumferential grooves 22 in which .the wires are received as shown. 'l liesegrooves also serve to maintain the wires in their laterally spaced relation, as will 'be clear by reference to Fig. 1.

As a means forguiding the towels in their oassa e throu fh the tank and reventin b 2' D undue'lateral deflection of the same, Ihave provided -a plurality ot pairs of guides for engagement with the opposite edges of the towels. One of these pairs of guides is 10- Vhen this happensthe said loose jfront end of the tank. The upper-end of these bars 'extendinto the path of move- 'men't of the towel bar '55 where the latter projects beyond the edges er the towel, but

this isprovided for by the pivotal support oi the bars which permits them to yield when engagedbythetowelbarand to thereafter automatically return %to their normal position following the passage of the towel bar thereover.

The secondpair of guides which are those located at the rear end ot thetank, are of similar construction and operation to the first pair in that 'each 'member '30 1S pivotally connected'at 31to a supporting braeket 32 fixed "to the rear wall of the tank, but

the I guide members of "this second 'pair are horizontally arrangedand this ma'kesne'cessary the provision of 'a stop pin 33 ftor engagement with the rear end of each guide to hold "it @in its normal towel guiding position asshown. In operation, whenthe towel bar strikes lthe ends 10f the guides 80, *the latter will raise and permit of the passage of the towel bar beyond the same, after which they will gr'avitate back to their 'normal position with their'rear ends engaging the stop pins 33.

that I claim is: r a 1. In a machine of the class described, a wasliing'ta-iik, scrubbingbrush'es therein, a

towel connecting bar, carrier belts having means loosely connecting with said bar and movable in a path to carry the latter and connected towel through the tank and in operative relation to the brushes therein, and means torengaging'the saidtowel bar in its passage through the tank and main- 'taining its connection with the carrier belts.

2. In amac'hineo'fthe class described, a washing tank, a pair of opposed scrubbing brushes therein, means for rotating said brushes in opposite. directions, a towel connecting 'bar, carrier belts "having means loosely connecting with said "bar and movable in apath to carry the latter and connected towel through the tank and between the brushes therein, and means engaging said towel bar in its passage through the tank and maintaining its connection with the earrierbelts; j j

I3. Ina machine of the class described, a washing tank, scrubbing brushes therein, a towel connecting bar, carrier belts having means loosely connecting with said bar and movable in a path to carry the latter and &

connected towel through the tank and in operative relation to the brushes therein, and a wire extending lengthwise of the tank engaging the said towel bar in its passage through the latter and maintaining its connection with the carrier belts.

4. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, two sets of opposed rotary scrubbing brushes therein, means for rotating the two sets of brushes in opposite di rections relatively to each other, a towel connecting bar, carrier belts having means loosely connecting with said bar and movable in a path through the tank to carry the bar and connected towel between the two sets of brushes therein, and a series of wires extending lengthwise of the tank engaging the towel bar in its passage through the latter and maintaining its connection with the carrier belts.

5. In a machine oi the class described, a washing tank, scrubbing brushes therein, a towel connecting bar, carrier belts having means loosely connecting with said bar and movable in a path to carry the latter and connected towel through the tank and in operative relation to the brushes therein, a wire extending lengthwise of the tank e11- gaging the said towel bar in its passage through the latter and maintaining its connection with the carrier belts, and a series of rollers engaging with and holding the wire in position in the path of travel of the towel bar.

6. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, two sets of opposed rotary scrubbing brushes therein, means for rotating the two sets of brushes in opposite directions relatively to each other, a towel connecting bar, carrier belts having means loosely connecting with said bar and movable in a path through the tank to carry the bar and connected towel between the two sets of brushes therein, and a series of grooved rollers engaging with and holding the wires in position in the path of travel of the towel bar.

7. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, a plurality of pairs of op posed rotary scrubbing brushestherein, carrier belts operative to draw a towel through the tank between the pairs of brushes therein, and rollers intermediate of the pairs of brushes for engaging the towel and 1naintaining it in a smooth condition during its passage between said brushes.

8. in a. machine of the class described, a washing tank, a plurality of pairs of opposed rotary scrubbing brushes therein, a carrier operative to draw a towel through the tank between the pairs of brushes therein, and pairs of rollers intermediate of the pairs of brushes for engaging the towel at the lower and upper sides thereof and maintaining it in a smooth condition during its passage between said brushes.

9. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, a plurality of pairs of opposed rotary scrubbing brushes therein, a towel connecting bar, carrier belts having means loosely connecting with said bar and movable in a path to carry the latter and connected towel through the tank between the pairs of brushes therein, pairs of rollers intermediate of the pairs of brushes for engaging the towel at the lower and upper sides thereof and maintaining it in a smooth condition during its passage between the brushes. a series of wires extending lengthwise of the tank between the upper and lower sets of brushes and rollers and operative to engage the towel bar in its passage through the tank and maintain its connection with the carrier belts.

10. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, scrubbing brushes therein, a towel connecting bar projecting at its ends beyond the opposite sides of the towel, carrier belts operative to engage said bar and draw the same and connected towel through the tank between the brushes therein, and guides for engaging the opposite sides of the towel normally extending into the path of the projecting ends of the towel bar, said guides being pivoted whereby they may be moved from the path of the towel bar by the engagement of the latter therewith.

11. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, means operative to draw a towel through the tank, a scrubbing brush mounted in the tank for engagement with the towel and being movable in the direction of feed of the towel, and a plurality of wires interposed between the brush and the towel.

12. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, two sets of opposed rotary scrubbing brushes therein, means operative to draw a towel through the tank between the two sets of brushes therein, one of said sets of brushes being rotatable in the di rection of feed of the towel, and a plurality of wires interposed between the last named set of brushes and the towel.

1-5. In a machine of the class described, a washing tank, two sets of opposed rotary scrubbing brushes therein, means operative to draw a towel through the tank between the two sets of brushes therein, one of said sets of brushes being rotatable in the direction of feed of the towel, a plurality of wires interposed between the last named set of brushes and the towel; and rollers intermediate of the brushes of one set for supporting engagement with the towel.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

WILLIAM W. THINKS. 

